The CoinGeek Pulse Episode 50: Walls closing in on Binance, Craig Wright Bitcoin whitepaper copyright win, and Marvel to launch NFTs

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On CoinGeek Pulse’s 50th episode, we are taking a closer look at one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, the most controversial and influential figure in the space, and a comic book giant.

Binance is in hot water after regulators from around the world issued warnings against the company. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers that Binance doesn’t have permission to undertake any regulated activities without the prior written consent from the authority. According to FCA, no other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of U.K. authorization, registration or license.

The FCA also advised people to “be wary of adverts online and social media promising high returns on investments.” Moreover, the firm advised to do further research on the product and the company consumers are considering investing with.

Binance responded to FCA’s consumer warning and tweeted, “The FCA U.K. notice has no direct impact on the services provided on Binance.com.” They also mentioned Binance Group has acquired Binance Markets Limited in May 2020. However, it has not launched its U.K. business or used its FCA permissions.

Although the FCA does not regulate digital currencies, they require exchanges to register with them. In May of this year, Binance has allegedly applied in relation to 5MLD, an anti-laundering directive that took effect in January 2020, but withdrew the application.

The FCA move comes amid pushback from regulators around the world against digital currency platforms. On the same day of FCA’s warning, Binance shut down its operations in Ontario, Canada. Binance has received notices from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) for failing to comply with regulations.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has also issued Binance its second warning in three years. The exchange is unregistered and cannot operate in Japan. In April, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin warned Binance of a risk of being fined $6 million for offering its securities-tracking digital tokens without publishing an investor prospectus. The following month, U.S. Justice Department and IRS confirmed they are investigating Binance in relation to illegal activities in the thriving U.S. market.

More stories in the U.K., the English High Court awarded Dr. Craig Wright default judgment in his intellectual property infringement case against Twitter user Cøbra. This is in light of bitcoin.org’s hosting of the Satoshi Nakamoto White Paper. Cøbra is known to be the operator of the website.

The results show that the English High Court has granted Dr. Wright’s request that Cøbra is no longer allowed to make the White Paper available for download in the U.K., whether by bitcoin.org or otherwise. The Twitter user must also publish and host a statement acknowledging the judgment for no less than 6 months on the bitcoin.org. Cøbra is also ordered to pay Dr. Wright’s interim costs in the case preliminary set by the Judge at £35,000 but will be the subject of a more detailed assessment.

This is the first of Dr. Wright’s White Paper cases to reach a conclusion. In a statement by Ontier LPP, his legal team, Simon Cohen said: “Dr. Wright does not wish to restrict access to his White Paper. However, he does not agree that it should be used by supporters and developers of alternative assets, such as Bitcoin Core, to promote or otherwise misrepresent those assets as being Bitcoin given that they do not support or align with the vision for Bitcoin as he set out in his White Paper.”

In a lighter news, Marvel joins the NFT craze. The comic book giant has announced the launch its own set of Marvel NFT collectibles.

Marvel Entertainment is collaborating with Orbis Blockchain Technologies Limited, the company operating the VeVe Digital Collectibles App. Veve is the groundbreaking platform where fans can buy and collect a variety of Marvel NFTs.

For the first time, fans will be able to purchase and interact with official Marvel NFT digital collectibles, 3D statues, and digital comic books through mixed reality on VeVe. The companies have yet to shared any images of the NFTs but announced that these will be available in the market later this year.

Also, be sure to watch CoinGeek’s latest video of Kurt Wuckert Jr. at a BTC conference in Miami, where he strolled around the streets interviewing and educating people about Bitcoin including venture capitalist Tim Draper. Check out how Kurt used Omniscape to collect NFT Taco and Pizza coupons and use them to redeem actual tacos and a slice of pizza. Aside from seeing Kurt show his love for these snacks, get more insights on functional Bitcoin technology from the CoinGeek’s Chief Bitcoin Historian himself.